9. Pete Doherty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjIO-AJlFoU When Pete broke into Carls flat in order to finance his problematic drug habit, the writing was on the wall for the Libertine dream. After immortalising this internal conflict on wounded songs such as Cant Stand Me Now, Pete n Carls highly-charged (and at times, homoerotic) relationship imploded due to jealousy, anger and betrayal. After moving on to form Babyshambles, Doherty eventually released his first solo record, Grace/Wastelands, in 2009. Featuring some originals and some songs that had been doing the rounds for years in different, unreleased incarnations such was the prolific nature of Petes poetry and creativity, the record was a redemption of sorts for a drug-racked artist experiencing a rare patch of clarity and coherence. The omnipresent motif of Arcadia is again visible in Petes work, showcasing its creators idealistic, but highly distorted, innocence, alongside veiled addresses to his ex-song writing partner. A mainly lo-fi affair, short ditties such as Arcady and Lady Dont Fall Backwards share space with the more grandiose stylings of A Little Death Around The Eyes and Sweet By and By, a wonderful marriage of Dohertys acoustic folk balladry and dancehall influences.
Worth the (solo) effort? A decent LP but one that, like Babyshambles output, suffers from the lack of Carls influence on Petes song writing.